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Thrones and Patriots - Showcase 2

In the second of our exclusive Thrones and Patriots nation profiles, the Rise of Nations team discusses the Americans, who possess the Power of Innovation, and the Dutch, with the Power of Commerce.

Thrones and Patriots is the hotly anticipated expansion pack for GameSpy's RTS of the year, Rise of Nations. Thrones and Patriots is more than just an expansion, though. Many of the game's six new countries will fundamentally alter the way the game is played through the introduction of remarkable new abilities and advantages.

In this, the second of our exclusive Thrones & Patriots nation portraits, we examine the American and Dutch civilizations from both a historical and a gameplay perspective. The Americans, with their power of Innovation, are the quintessential late game powerhouses. The Dutch, with the power of Commerce, were created as a way to fight off micromanagers who like raiding their enemies and starving them of resources.

The Americans in History

Oh no, you don't! You're not going to get us to give you 500 years of history you should already know in a game preview! It's one thing to be ignorant of the history of proud ancient civilizations such as Nubia, or Korea, or the Maya. It is quite another to be ignorant of your own history. Not only that, but the average non-American reader of this series probably already knows far more about American history than you. Why, I'll wager he could even tell you the cause of the first real American conflict, King Philip's War.

We understand. You're a very busy person - mostly playing PC games, no doubt -- and you can't be expected to know such trivia as who's buried in King Tut's tomb. We can help. The primary purpose, however, of this article is to give you a preview of two more of the new Nations in the Rise of Nations expansion, Thrones and Patriots. But just because we like you, we will toss in a bit of history as well.

There are lots of simple questions in history. There are very few simple answers. Most people know the basics of American history. They have heard of Columbus, and the Revolution, and they might even know that it wasn't the British we fought in the Civil War. But here's a simple question few people can answer: how did America get its name? Why are we "Americans," instead of "Columbians," or "Pilgrimanians," or some such?

A lot of people would tell you that America was named after the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who did visit the "New World" sometime around 1500. And, in fact, Vespucci is generally given credit for coining the phrase "New World," based upon his assertion that he had discovered it in 1497 (Columbus did not realize, at least at first, that he had found anything himself other than an outlying part of Asia).

One problem with Vespucci's claim is that although it is clear he did indeed later visit the New World, there is no evidence to support the contention that he even took that voyage in 1497. Another small problem with Vespucci was his vanity. Some people claim that Vespucci - whose Christian name had originally been Alberico - had changed his name to "Amerigo" after visiting a region in what is now Nicaragua known as Amerrique, which was rich in gold.

Wait - there's more! If you don't like that theory, you can always opt for this one: Richard Ap Meryk (one of whose descendants is Queen Elizabeth II) was a Welshman who donated large sums of money to John Cabot's voyages of discovery to Labrador and Newfoundland, in 1497. His family was also known as "Amerike," and it is an interesting coincidence that the emblems flag of the United States of America - notably its well-known stars and stripes -- are very similar to those found on the Amerike family's coat of arms.

And we won't even explore the theory that America is named after the Viking Leif Ericson, i.e. "Amt Eric," or "Land of Eric," in Norse. Things have gotten too confusing already. Even for us.

These days, most people around the world think of citizens of the United States, when they refer to "Americans." But of course, that word would be more properly used for any inhabitants of these two continents, though rarely is this done. Similarly, when we talk about the colonization of North America, and which colony came first, the discussion usually boils down to the English colonies of Virginia versus that of Plymouth.

The Pilgrims who landed in what is now the state of Massachusetts were preceded by the settlers of Jamestown, in Virginia, by over 20 years, and although many people believe that the first English colony in North America was that of Jamestown, in 1607, in fact there were several earlier attempts. The first of these was founded on Roanoke Island in 1585, at the orders of Sir Walter Raleigh. It was later replaced by the famous Roanoke colony from which over 100 men, women and children, vanished without a trace, with the sole hint of their disappearance being the word "Croatoan" carved in the trunk of a tree. To this day, it is unclear what became of them.

Just as an historical aside, the first true European settlement along the Atlantic coast of what is now the United States took place in 1526, in Georgia. The oldest permanent European settlement on the continent was St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1564. The settlement's historic fort can still be visited today.

I hope you know why 1776 was a very important year for Americans. I hope you also know what happened in 1861, 1917, and 1941. If not, all is lost, and there is nothing I can do for you.

Because this is an article about a game, not about history, and because there is no easy way to encapsulate the history of the United States in a couple of hundred words, we will move on to the next section with alacrity, as we discuss how Americans have fought, and usually won, their wars, over the course of history.